Squall
by Litrouke
Summary: ."Is that why you killed Kimimaro, but not me?" A conversation between Sasuke and Kabuto, narrated so generously by the latter. No pairings, no warnings.


**Squall** by Litrouke

Disclaimer: Notmine. I freaking wish…

Warnings: …mind games? Spoiler for Kimi-kun, but that happened eons ago…

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Kabuto slid out of Sound just as the world turned black. The thick branches groped for the medic, swaying and bowing; the wind trampled through the forest like a demon, smashing aside branches and chunking great glossy spades of leaves to the whirling chaos. The gusts found their beastly companions in the hulking mass above the trees – the dense darkness of the clouds was broken only by shots of lightning that sliced through the sky like a powerful katana. The storm had been building since Sound had arrived at its new location days ago, and now finally the rain clattered down. It assailed the battered treetops, streaks of water flashing like kunai in the lightning's scattered illumination. The thick drops smeared the sky, causing the rumbling grey clouds to blacken. Ancient trunks and fresh leaves lost color in the lightless air – all of which suited the medic perfectly, camouflaged in this greyscale world.

Deep beneath the thrashing treetops, Kabuto stayed hidden from the full wrath of the rain. He wove through the oak labyrinth, only now and then pursued by a rogue spatter of water. After a few minutes of travel over mud and slick roots, he sighted his target.

Had he been half as much of an artist as his previous 'master', Kabuto might have paused to admire the exquisite contrast: pelting rain on motionless limbs, white flesh against black sky; the peace of his closed eyes, relaxed face, hanging arms, and the screaming tantrum of nature. The very portrait of a corpse suspended in the chaos of hell.

Kabuto, however, was no artist. As a medic, he merely sighed and calculated the possibility of pneumonia, then mentally berated the boy for carelessly exposing Orochimaru-sama's new body to such merciless weather.

"Sasuke-kun."

When the boy refused to pull even one eye open, Kabuto slid his glasses back into place with a tired smile and leapt up. He landed on a thick branch near the top of the tree, every meter of the cold bark soaked with water. Glancing at the Uchiha, Kabuto followed suit and activated the chakra near his feet; neither of their prides could permit a slip.

"Your body will catch a chill if you stay up here," Kabuto insisted. At this height, even though rain tore at their clothes and spat in their faces, the air seemed strangely still. His voice dangled between the pair with remarkable clarity that the storm could not dampen.

"Sasuke-kun."

The child turned. His expression remained as it had been moments ago, when he had strained to gaze heavenward with closed eyes. Perhaps the rain trailing down his face, so similar yet completely unlike tears, perhaps that created the illusion of serenity – relaxation, even. Though his brow tightened just enough to convey a silent question, Kabuto found that that tiny variation was the only emotion he could read.

Honestly, Kabuto didn't know whether to declare it the end of the world or simply smile and congratulate the boy for learning (finally) to conceal his thoughts. Oh, Sasuke thought he was always so slick and apathetic, yes indeed, but did he never once consider that stoicism is a hundred times more difficult to sustain than a smile? For apathy required stillness and Sasuke had never had the patience to completely withdraw – nor the courage to let go. (Not like his brother, Kabuto thought gratefully.) The medic had read the brat's need to dominate in every sneer, the self-loathing in every silent narrowing of those ink-black eyes, the desperate attempt at hatred in every cold glare.

But now –

But now those eyes, black as the rain-filled clouds above, were wide and quiet; there was a looseness to his jaw, lips parted slightly, in a manner that made Kabuto recall a small child gazing at a dazzling, incomprehensible slight of hand. Maybe the boy had learned nothing after all – maybe the rain had simply cleansed, washed his guilt away, and carried him back to the simplicity of black and white, hero and villain, avenger and murderer.

More out of respect than necessity, Kabuto slipped his glasses off, taking the polite excuse of wiping the blots of liquid from the lenses. If Sasuke had perceived some epiphany worthy of melting the icy wall between himself and the world, the medic would do his best to reciprocate that honesty.

After meticulously wiping the glasses clean, Kabuto looked back up at Sasuke. He was startled to find an older boy staring back at him: the childishness had hardened, in those sparse seconds, the blade-like keenness of his eyes displaying the Uchiha's true age. Still, weightlessness dominated Sasuke's expression- not forced apathy but an actual disregard for consequences. With the mask tossed aside and the innocence burnt away, his hard eyes lived up to their reputation, challenging worth and demanding respect. Kabuto blinked hard, shifting his weight back to his heels in the equivalence of a ninja's flinch. Those jet black eyes soaked up the medic's impulsive retreat, knowing that along with the motion came the stabbing strike of mistrust, almost fear. Kabuto expected some backlash: the famed smirk, the sleek jeer…

And then something completely unprecedented occurred: Sasuke smiled.

According to Kabuto's recollection – on which he would wager his life several times over – this was only the third time he had ever witnessed that smile. The first, he supposed, did not even count, as it happened within the hysteria of a fever-induced dream. And the second time, Kabuto had been present by accident, simply instructing one of his fellow Sound medics – a rare one that had managed to win a significant part of Sasuke's trust. After nearly four months of dedication and a solid seventeen hours of training, the boy had tottered into the medic's room and blearily mumbled out the news of his victory. She smiled sadly, analyzed his condition, and declared, "You're unbelievable", to which he smiled before collapsing at her feet.

This present smile held the same flattering hint of apology as that one had, but also the equally insulting lack of regret. Puzzling it over for several seconds, Kabuto could not conjure up a single reason for the boy to wear such an expression now, especially in the company of a man he alternately detested and disdained. _I suppose that's a victory to you, Sasuke-kun_, Kabuto granted with a dry chuckle. _Baffled me twice in not even four minutes._

Not willing to permit the boy any more points, the medic replaced his glasses and pushed them back up the bridge of his nose. Evidently, he had become rather rusty at honesty, if this brat could so outmatch him. Instead of lamenting flawed moves, Kabuto shifted his gaze to the rain, criticizing the stray clots of stormy grey clouds that wandered from their black blanket of a mother.

"It's been trying to rain all week," Kabuto offered, voice light and helpful as ever. The topic seemed not to interest Sasuke, though his silence was contrary to the near obsession with which he had demanded to leave the compound to watch the first tear of the gods fall.

Undeterred by the Uchiha's silence, Kabuto further enlightened him. "This is only a squall, however. It should last no more than ten minutes."

Again, silence.

"I take your reticence to be disbelief, perhaps? Or incomprehension?" Kabuto graced the rain with a cheerful, polite smile, praying the boy enjoyed the discourse brought upon himself. "The ocean, as you may have noticed, lies only miles to the southwest of our location. It seems we have arrived in the midst of a rather turbulent season – prevailing winds have flown over the water since the time we set up the compound. These ocean winds, of course, carry a great amount of heavy, warm moisture. As these water-laden winds attempt to travel inland, they come to this inconveniently placed range of mountains that we have so gracelessly injected ourselves into. As you may know, hot air rises above cold, and as this hot moisture climbs above the mountain's peak, it reaches higher, and therefore cooler, altitudes. The decrease in temperature causes the water vapor to condense into precipitation, which falls on our side of the mountain – the windward side, geographically speaking. Necessarily, the land we passed through while travelling here was extremely arid and dry; it sits within the rain shadow on the leeward side. As the air has already emptied its moisture onto our side, there is little to none left for the leeward."

Kabuto let himself share Sasuke's silence for a few restful breaths before his smile twisted upward, sharp and glinting like his trademark glasses. He opened his mouth with the threat of another lesson – a full explanation of the rain shadow and the locations of its occurrences throughout the world or a speech on its cousin the Foehn wind, if Sasuke was lucky – when the boy managed to finally force out a sound. Nothing more than a predictable 'hn', but it served its purpose; fickle victory welcomed the medic back into her arms. All the oddities of a minute ago had been eliminated: Kabuto could easily translate Sasuke's dismissive sound into the various undertones of stubborn surrender and the meek shuffle back to the shadowed sanctuary of stoicism.

"Kabuto."

Reveling in how well his hand had been played, the medic turned at Sasuke's command. A smile (no doubt stolen from some kind, innocent little sensei) fixed onto his face. "Hai?"

"Why did you kill Kimimaro?"

Grateful that he had propped the smile up at such a fortunate time, Kabuto lurked behind the expression while digging for the appropriate response. Had the brat really been so uninterested in geography that he had devised his own scheme to carry fortune back to his side?

"What a remarkable question," Kabuto reinforced the smile, lacing his cheery tone with curiousity. "My, doesn't that bring back memories… I can't help but wonder why you would ever think that I would do-"

Those eyes were alive again, the jet black somehow just as arresting as when sparked with fiery red. Sasuke's look froze Kabuto's tongue; it wordlessly conveyed the boy's fierce insistence that every second of prattle from Kabuto's mouth would be worthless.

"Answer the question," the Uchiha said, not so much a demand as an acknowledgement that the medic would obey the statement. Kabuto met the words with a painted smile as opaque as the gleam of his glasses and a quiet voice that doused his discontent in amusement.

"If you would be gracious enough to answer mine first," Kabuto replied. The curiousity had not been wholly faked – he really did have an interest in how exactly Sasuke had come to such a conclusion.

Sasuke lips curled into a snarl, dark expression suddenly violent. "I'm no **fool**, Kabuto."  
_You've established that_, Kabuto almost retorted, but decided against the mocking words. Truth had too great a hold on them – and gods forbid the Uchiha receive a **compliment**. Kabuto was certain that should that calamity occur, the prodigy's ego would inflate past human proportions and cause the body to burst from internal pressure. (Orochimaru-sama's body seemed to be able to withstand such pressure only because the sannin was able to continuously renew the flesh.)

The boy continued, even without Kabuto's flattery. "Do you really think I would map out the perfect escape for you?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Sasuke-kun," Kabuto smiled graciously. "I have no need for escape. That incident happened so very long ago; I doubt Orochimaru-sama would even-"

"He'd kill you."

The brat's rude interruption butchered the conversation. Both stood motionless and let the wailing wind thrash between them, splattering trees and humans alike, erasing accusations and manipulations and, most importantly, truth.

"What's brought this topic on so suddenly?" Kabuto asked. Recognizing the expression sharpening Sasuke's face, the medic settled in for a long wait – the boy had that air of obstinate silence gathered around him like a cloak. To bide the time, he removed his glasses once more, scolding them with a light sigh for having already attracted so many raindrops. In the middle of Kabuto's cleaning, a full two minutes and seventeen seconds before Kabuto had anticipated it, Sasuke made his reply.

"I've been thinking about death lately."

"Oh? I was under the impression that that was one of your usual hobbies," Kabuto remarked without looking up from his glasses. Even so, he felt the weight of the boy's glare pinning him down.

"More than just **his** death," Sasuke snapped back.

Glasses cleaned and repositioned, the medic looked up and met the boy's gaze with the unspoken question of which new man was lucky enough to replace Itachi in the boy's mind. He could presume the answer, as he only knew of one man that Sasuke revered and loathed nearly as much as his brother, but presumptions give way to weakness and error. In fact, he had theorized for some time now that this Uchiha prodigy would be the one to set fire to the snake nest – regardless, he was patient enough to wait for a true answer. Narrowed black eyes and calculation, then the epiphany and quick guilty glance away… As clear an answer as anyone could desire.

"Ah," Kabuto concluded smugly, a note of approval in his well-oiled voice.

The boy kept his eyes to the storm. "Is that why you killed Kimimaro, but not me?"

"My, my, it is almost endearing how unique you believe yourself to be, Sasuke-kun," Kabuto chuckled. The comment drew enough of Sasuke's attention to tug his attention back to the medic; he shot Kabuto a glower that was probably intended as threatening.

"After all, perhaps I'm still planning to."

"Mm." The onyx reflected hard disbelief.

"Or perhaps I've already tried."

"…hn." Now the stone melted to the pitch black of night, mere shadows to hide uncertainty. "I heard Kimimaro was perfect. A willing slave, a flawless prodigy with no other desire than to exist as a tool. Something as twisted as that…it's disgusting. How could Orochimaru not have found a toy like that perfect?"

The boy shook his head, not even finding it worth the effort to sneer at the thought.

"Is all of that true?" Sasuke stepped forward on the branch, leaning closer to the medic. "Tell me about him."

"What more can I say?"

Sasuke's curiousity evolved swiftly into impatience; he had never developed a taste for Kabuto's evasiveness.

"You've already discussed the most important thing," Kabuto nodded. "You should know, even better than I, that the only thing significant about Kimimaro is that he's **dead**."

Thunder, like the mumbled curses of a god, growled through the trees, timing itself so cinematically after Kabuto's comment that he had to commend the weather. As the medic looked out from the tree, he found that the thunder must have been the end of the gods' quarrelling, for the rain had slowed to a trickle, just little leaks in the grey sky.

"Hmm…" Kabuto pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I'm afraid we must have upset the Rain Spirit. I understand that she doesn't take well to mentions of conspiracy and murder."

The boy shifted beside him, making a soft sound of scorn. "Didn't know you believed in the gods."

"Sasuke-kun!" Kabuto drew a sharp breath of feigned indignation. "I am **insulted** that you think I would ever shirk my sacred duties of worship–"

"Worship doesn't make someone a god."

"Nor does fear make one powerful, yet he seems to believe both."

Silent again, the medic and the boy watched the squall's demise. Once the sky faded back to the familiar shineless grey of underground metal walls, Kabuto cleansed his glasses once more, seeing no threat of further rainfall. Through sleek, clear glass, he glanced at the Uchiha and announced the message he had set out to deliver seven and a half minutes prior.

"Orochimaru-sama will be wanting you."

A droplet slipped off the cold edge of Sasuke's face, chasing its brothers and sisters to the mud below.

"He can wait."

Kabuto's mouth curved, his smile edged with suppressed laughter. He nodded to the boy and took his leave, gracefully hopping down to the murk below. Thoughtlessly, Kabuto converted his chakra to keep from sinking into the layer of mud, then started back towards the hidden compound, amused expression never fading. Only four steps later – his calculations must truly be off today; he had guessed at least six – Sasuke's voice cut through the exhausted tranquility after the storm.

"Kabuto."

"Hai?" the medic glanced over his shoulder, gazing up at the unmoved figure.

"Tell him I'm coming."

"…hai."

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Because seeing Kabuto in the latest Shippuuden episodes made me so nostalgic for our bespectacled friend(/traitor) that I had to write something. Also, I used approximate English translations for simplicity, but 'Rain Spirit' refers to ame-warashi and 'gods/god' refer to kami.

As always, reviews are adored.


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